Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Inc., the world’s biggest drugmaker, must pay a research center $38.7 million for stealing data compiled by the foundation on its Bextra pain-killer drug, a California jury determined.

State court jurors in San Jose yesterday found that Pfizer stole the information from the Ischemia Research and Education Foundation, which for more than 20 years has collected data on post-surgery medications, reactions, and placebo effects, said Pat Harris, an IREF lawyer. Pfizer said its conduct was “proper” and it will appeal the verdict.

Pfizer got the data through Ping Hsu, a statistician the company hired from San Bruno, California-based IREF, as part of its effort to win approval for Bextra from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Harris said. Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Gregory Ward will determine a punitive award next month, which could amount to as much as $116 million, Harris said.

The verdict “vindicates IREF’s years of hard work putting together this database,” Harris said in a telephone interview. “It allows IREF to go forward doing the work of saving lives worldwide.”

In October, New York-based Pfizer agreed to pay $894 million to resolve most legal claims that its painkillers Bextra and Celebrex caused heart attacks and strokes. Celebrex is still sold, generating $2.3 billion for Pfizer last year, while Bextra was recalled over a rare skin condition in 2005.

Pfizer’s conduct in the IREF case was “proper, in compliance with state and federal laws, and consistent with any obligations it might have owed” the foundation, Pfizer said in an e-mailed statement.

“Pfizer continues to believe that it was unjustly caught in a crossfire between IREF and one of its former employees, and that the only issue in this case is a commercial dispute, nothing more,” it said.

Hsu’s lawyer Allen Ruby didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment.

Pfizer fell 15 cents to $17.03 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has dropped 25 percent this year.

The case is Ischemia Research and Education Foundation v. Pfizer, 1-04-CV-026653, Santa Clara County Superior Court (San Jose, California).

To contact the reporter on this story: Joel Rosenblatt in San Francisco at jrosenblatt@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 23, 2008 17:08 EST